Ramesh made the statement at the plenary of Cancun climate conference on Thursday, making a departure from the stated Indian position that developing countries such as India should not be forced into a binding emissions cut regime.

Later in an interview to HT, Ramesh said his statement was in order to ensure that India remains relevant in the climate negotiations and merely making the statement did not amount to overstepping his mandate which was to not sign up for any binding emission cuts.

Prim Minister Singh did not elaborate on the issue and made the one-line remark while walking out after a press conference. Singh is in the capital of Belgium for the EU-India summit.

A joint statement after the summit said "on climate change, EU and India voiced their firm resolve to continue working for an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced post 2012 agreement as soon as possible based on the principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)".